Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and OncoHost partner for renal cell carcinoma research

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Accounting for 4% of all cases, kidney cancer is currently the sixth most common cancer diagnosed in the UK

The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and OncoHost have partnered to research and identify biomarkers for renal cell carcinoma (RCC), a form of kidney cancer.

The collaboration aims to create a proteomic plasma profile by providing OncoHost with materials using Dana-Farber’s repository of patient plasma samples and clinical data.

According to Cancer Research UK, kidney cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the UK, accounting for 4% of all new cancer cases.

RCC occurs when malignant cells are found in the lining of tubules in the kidney and there is currently no blood test available for these patients to help make personalised treatment recommendations, explained Wenxin Xu, physician, Dana-Farber and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

For most RCC patients, immune-checkpoint inhibitor therapy (ICI) has been used to treat the disease. However, ICIs may not benefit all patients and can cause immune-related adverse events (irAEs).

The PROPHETIC trial will create a new proteomic plasma profiling technology for metastatic RCC patients prior to treatment, associating protein expression changes with treatment response metrics such as best response, overall survival and progression-free survival, while evaluating different response predictions for certain treatment combinations.

In addition, the research will investigate the proteomic pathways that are associated with treatment responses and irAEs to potentially offer insights into treatment options and biological patterns of resistance.

Furthermore, the research will compare other pathways identified in other cancers to further advance the understanding of RCC’s unique biomolecular landscape.

Xu commented: “This study explores whether measuring blood levels of thousands of cancer-related proteins can be used to build personalised, data-driven predictions. If successful, the data we generate could help us learn more about the biology of RCC and its treatments.”

Ofer Sharon, chief executive officer, OncoHost, said: “We are excited to collaborate with Dana-Farber on this important research study… to improve clinical decision-making in the first-line setting and, ultimately, patient outcomes.”